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A key figure in the American landscape tradition, Thomas Moran created colorful and highly atmospheric paintings that captured the beauty and grandeur of the West and earned him a reputation as the “American Turner.” Exhibited in the United States and England, his views of Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, Zion and other spectacular locales appealed to art audiences drawn to the wonders of the unspoiled frontier. However, Moran wasn’t just a pictorial interpreter of the Far West: an artist keenly attuned to his surroundings, he also painted intimate views of eastern Long Island and equally charming depictions of Venice.
Moran was born in Bolton, Lancashire, England on January 12th 1837. His family emigrated to the United States in 1844, settling in Philadelphia. At the age of sixteen, he was apprenticed to a local wood-engraving firm. Moran spent his spare time painting and drawing, and in 1856 he began exhibiting his work at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. He also shared the first of several studios with his older brother, Edward (1829-1901), who became a noted marine painter. Their younger sibling, Peter (1841-1914), also pursued an artistic career, going on to make a name for himself as a painter and etcher.
Although Moran was a self-taught artist, he received much encouragement and advice from the Philadelphia-based painter James Hamilton, who introduced him to the work of the popular English landscape and marine painter, Joseph Mallord William Turner. On a trip to Europe in 1861, Moran was able to view Turner’s dynamic, light-filled compositions firsthand, deriving inspiration from his striking color effects and his distinctive handling of light, air and mist. While abroad, Moran traveled throughout the countryside of England and Scotland. During his sojourn, he was also influenced by the landscape styles of artists such as John Constable and Claude Lorrain.
Returning to Philadelphia in the summer of 1862, Moran married Mary Nimmo, a former student who went on to become a noted etcher. During the next few years he continued to exhibit at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, in addition to working as an illustrator for books and periodicals. He also taught at the Philadelphia School of Design for Women. In 1866, he made a second trip to Europe, visiting England, France and Italy.
During the late 1860s, Moran continued his work as an illustrator, contributing his drawings to periodicals such as The Aldine and Scribner’s Monthly. In 1871, he served as the official artist for Dr. Ferdinand Hayden’s geological expedition to the Yellowstone region, during which he made delicate pencil drawings and watercolors of the unspoiled wilderness. These were later used as illustrations in Hayden’s report and as studies for larger oils, one of which, The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone (Smithsonian National Art Museum, Washington, D.C.), was purchased by the United States Congress in 1872. Moran’s panoramic depictions of Yellowstone also influenced Congress in its decision to declare it the country’s first national park. As well as establishing his reputation as the preeminent painter of the American West, Moran’s success led to his nickname, Thomas “Yellowstone” Moran. Having studied the waterways and rock formations of the Yellowstone region, he became an expert on the area’s physical geography, prompting some commentators to dub him a “scientist-artist.”
During the 1870s, Moran continued to respond to the allure of the West. In 1872 he visited the Yosemite Valley in California, and in the following year he accompanied Major John Wesley Powell’s expedition through the Rock Mountain region. In 1874, he painted in Colorado, again with Dr. Hayden. Five years later he painted and sketched in the Sierra Nevada and Lake Tahoe areas. He also visited the Teton Mountains in Wyoming, viewing the peak that Dr. Hayden had named Mount Moran in his honor. In the dramatic paintings resulting from these trips, Moran conveyed the grandeur, mystique and power of the West by means of a style in which he combined the luminous color effects of Turner with strong contrasts of light and shadow. His watercolors from this period also express the magical qualities of the wilderness. During the early 1880s, Moran took up etching, a medium that also contributed to his high ranking in the art world; in fact, one of his plates, exhibited in London, was singled out by John Ruskin, the prominent artist-theoretician, as “one of the finest produced in America and one of the best in modern art.”
Moran made additional trips to Europe in 1882, 1886, 1890 and 1910. In 1872, he moved with his family to New York City, where he was affiliated with such prestigious organizations as the National Academy of Design, the American Watercolor Society and the New York Etching Club. Six years later, on the recommendation of some artist-friends, he made his first visit to East Hampton, Long Island, at the time a quiet, rural village that reminded him of the English countryside. Drawn to the area’s tranquil ambiance, Moran made several visits to East Hampton in the ensuing years, purchasing some land in the center of town in 1882. After building a “charming old-fashioned” summer home and studio on his property, he went on to paint oil and watercolor views of local scenery––ranging from beaches and salt-marshes to windmills, houses and bridges––in which he captured the distinctive light and atmosphere of the East End. In contrast to his majestic views of the West, Moran’s Long Island pictures are smaller in scale and highly pastoral in tone, exuding a sense of light and space that harks back to his earlier exposure to the work of Constable. Later in his career, Moran also painted many vibrantly colored scenes of Venice based on trips he made to that city in 1886 and 1890.
In 1916, Moran began spending his winters in Santa Barbara, California, moving there permanently in 1922. He died in Santa Barbara on 26 August 1926 and was buried back in his beloved East Hampton, in the cemetery adjacent to Goose Pond.
Examples of Moran’s work can be found in major public collections throughout the United States, including the High Museum of Art, Atlanta; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Denver Art Museum; the Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; the Philadelphia Museum of Art; the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; the M. H. de Young Museum, San Francisco; and the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
CL
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